THEN

ABOUT ONE YEAR AGO

Itsuka Kendo blinked and turned her head around. "Monoma?"

It looked like Itsuka wasn't seeing things, because although his blond hair had grown longer and he wasn't wearing the typical self-assured smirk, a familiar face stared back at her through the glass of the convenience store refrigerator.

Now the smirk appeared. Neito Monoma grabbed a cold drink and closed the fridge door. "Kendo," he greeted back in that tone which so often came off as haughty.

"You weren't at school today," Itsuka said. It was the first day of their last year of junior high. She never thought Monoma of all people would have skipped an entire day of classes. "Did something happen?"

Monoma shrugged. "I only got back to Japan this morning."

"Back to Japan?" A light bulb went off in Itsuka's head. "Oh, that's right! You were in America for the summer break." She and Monoma began making their way to the store clerk. "I would've thought a punctual guy like you would've planned ahead. Made sure you got back home and reacclimated well enough before school started."

Itsuka wouldn't call Monoma a stickler for rules, or a stickler for manners or polite etiquette considering the exchanges of taunts and insults he liked to get into with other students from time to time, but Monoma always took school work and attendance seriously. The fact that no one had seen him on their first day this year had honestly made Itsuka a little worried for him. For all she knew, he might have finally goaded the wrong person and paid for it.

Again, Monoma shrugged. "It was an eventful summer. Plans changed, and… my flight got delayed. I'm sure I'll catch up quickly on anything I missed out today."

"True enough. We didn't cover much anyway."

Monoma nodded absently. He was definitely more chill than the last time she had seen him, back when he had been proclaiming to their entire class in a long, over-the-top soliloquy about his family trip to America and plans on improving his Quirk. It had honestly been more of the usual spiel from him, but his entire speech had struck a nerve in another student whose vacation plans for America had been canceled. If Itsuka hadn't cut Monoma off and dragged him out of the classroom, their last day of school for that year probably would've ended with a fist fight.

Someone else was already at the cashier. As Itsuka and Monoma waited behind him, Itsuka was about to ask Monoma on how his stay in the States had been when he spoke first. "So, I expect you've done some training with your Quirk over the summer?"

"Yeah," Itsuka answered. "My parents got me a tutor who has a pretty similar Quirk to mine. She wasn't much of a martial artist, but she was a retired pro who gave lots of good tips on rescue applications. Being gentle when carrying disaster victims, holding up fallen debris steadily; that sort of thing."

Monoma chuckled. "Someone managed to temper your violent soul? I'm impressed."

Itsuka felt her eye twitch. "So did any of your relatives manage to cleanse the darkness in your heart?" she asked him in return.

"Something like that." Monoma dramatically twisted his arm to snap his fingers and to point at Itsuka. "Just know that once U.A. opens its doors for the entrance exams next semester, you won't be the only one from our school strolling inside and leaving with top marks."

Itsuka blinked. "You plan on applying to U.A.?"

"Of course," was his immediate answer. "Shiketsu is my backup, but U.A. is the more convenient location. Besides, it'd be a waste if U.A. found itself lacking a prospective hero like me."

The display of confidence wasn't something new, but Itsuka had a feeling Monoma was somehow being more… earnest about it. Like he genuinely believed he was going to ace the exams and enroll in U.A. He wasn't faking the confidence this time like how Itsuka has seen him try to do before.

It's not as if Itsuka thought he didn't have the drive to get a seat at U.A. It's just that with his Quirk, and how much he used to resent it so much, and how limited or difficult it could be used depending on the villain he was facing...

As the guy in front of them left the store and Monoma and Itsuka stepped forward, she shook her head, internally berating herself. She shouldn't be making assumptions or think so lowly of Monoma like this. They've talked about going the pro hero route before, more than a few times. If he wanted to become a hero by going to U.A., who was Itsuka to try and make him doubt his chances? Good on him, aiming big.

"Where's my money?" suddenly said a loud and angry voice. Itsuka turned toward the front entrance. A tall, muscular man entered. He was shirtless with blocky light blue skin and two extra arms protruding out of his back. The extra arms were folded over each other while his regular arms were at his sides with fists clenched tightly.

"Hey!" Itsuka instinctively yelped out when the stranger pushed her back so that he could tower over the cashier. She barreled into Monoma and they hit a shelf, knocking some snacks over.

"Get out of here, kids," the man gruffly said to them. "This doesn't concern you."

"We need to pay for our drinks," Monoma said casually as he lightly pushed Itsuka off him.

"Congratulations. First item you pick today is free." The four-armed man turned back to the clerk. "And the rest of your stock will be up for grabs if you don't pay me my money!"

Sweat running down his temple, the cashier gestured frantically at Itsuka and Monoma.. "Just leave. You don't have to pay anything. Just go."

And abandon what's obviously either a loan shark or some other extortionist grunt pressing a man for money in broad daylight? As a young middle school student with a Quirk primed for combat striving to become a professional hero, in what world would that be the right thing to do?

Itsuka has been through enough spars to know how to out-maneuver an opponent who was larger and tougher than her, especially one who was only half paying attention to her like the four-armed guy here.

But if he really was a criminal, then he probably wouldn't mind using his Quirk. Namely, those extra arms. None of the people Itsuka has fought against have had mutations that gave them extra limbs, and none of those spars had ever involved serious and extensive use of their Quirks. Plus, this villain easily dwarfed the largest opponents Itsuka has personally faced before. Even with her Quirk, Itsuka wasn't sure if she would win, and that's not even considering the collateral damage that would likely result from a Quirk-filled fight, especially in the confined space of this store.

The law was a tricky thing. Itsuka knew that it would be fine to use her Quirk in self-defense, but the villain would have to initiate violence against her first. If the villain attacked the cashier first and Itsuka interfered with her Quirk then, that would still technically be classified as vigilantism, or at least that's what some prosecutors would claim.

Was it worth risking a vigilantism charge? A hero was supposed to adhere to the law as best they can. But the store clerk looked so afraid. She couldn't in good conscience just leave him. Was there not a panic button or something under the counter? Did convenience stores have panic buttons?

"Thanks for the free drinks," Monoma suddenly said. Catching Itsuka off-guard, he pulled her toward the exit with more strength than she would've thought he had. Through the doors Monoma dragged her just out of view of the cashier and the villain.

Tugging her arm away, Itsuka fixed a glare at Monoma. "What was that?"

"I suppose violence still stirs in your heart," he began in that holier-than-thou tone, "regardless of your training. Because it was as clear as day you were contemplating throwing a Quirk-augmented punch in there."

"And you weren't?" Surely Monoma must've had the same instincts as her when it came to being presented with an apparent criminal right in front of them. He wanted to become a hero, just like her.

"I was considering how to best resolve this situation." Monoma turned around and began walking away.

"Where are you going?"

"Going to find a hero."

And she couldn't have told her that the second they were outside? Instead of wasting time critiquing her reaction and decision-making?

Never mind. Monoma at least had a point. Better to get a licensed pro to subdue a villain whose size and physique outmatched both her and Monoma. Itsuka wasn't even sure if her fists could grow to a size bigger than the villain.

The street was deserted. No heroes in sight, or police officers for that matter, but that didn't mean any weren't nearby. Monoma disappeared around a street corner. He should be calling out for a hero or officer, but Itsuka only heard silence. Regardless, Itsuka's hand went for her phone.

As she pulled it out, she saw a faint burst of green light in the corner of her eye. Looking up, she saw someone even bigger and taller than the villain stroll toward her.

He had solid red skin contrasting with the villain's blue hue. He also had four arms, but he had the extra pair extending out from the sides of his torso instead of his back. Each fist wore their own fingerless black gloves There was a second set of small eyes below his normal-sized ones. On the left side of his chest was something that resembled a circular button. In the middle of the circle was a white hourglass-shaped polygon.

"Someone called for a hero?" he asked in greeting as he cracked his knuckles and his neck. "That kid mentioned something about a robbery."

The "kid" must be Monoma, wherever he is now since Itsuka couldn't see him behind the man. Itsuka gestured to the store. "In there. The villain also has multiple arms." She didn't recognize this hero, the more she looked at him and went through the list of pros she knew of in the neighborhood. "What's your hero name?" she added as he walked past her.

"Four Arms." One of his hands held up a finger and wagged it at her. "Unoriginal, I know, but accurate." Then he entered the store.

"Who the hell are you?" Itsuka could hear the villain scream. "Trying to steal my act with those arms? Don't kid yourself. This is Steel Bulwark's turf. My turf."

The villain screamed again, but at a higher pitch, as he was thrown out onto the street.

Four Arms strolled outside. "You should call the police!" he said over his shoulder back to the cashier. "You and your friend here are going to need a ride to the hospital, and he might not be conscious for the duration."

Itsuka snuck a look back inside the store. There were bruises along the cashier's forehead, but he was doing as Four Arms suggested and dialing a number on his phone. He glanced at Itsuka and told her again to leave. Seeing that he was relatively okay, Itsuka turned her attention back to the hero and the villain.

"You think you can take me?" Steel Bulwark taunted with the bravado a villain like him would no doubt try to put up against a hero. "My turf. My neighborhood. My house. Coming here and acting like you own the place is the biggest mistake of your life."

"Save the talk for your therapist," Four Arms shot back. "You'll need more than a few sessions if you're spending a perfectly nice day shaking down convenience store clerks. I can only imagine what dire straits brought someone of your obvious strength to such desperate shenanigans."

Releasing a guttural roar, the villain charged at Four Arms. The hero simply stood ready and let himself be tackled. Although he slid back along the street thanks to the force of the villain's push, Four Arms used his upper arms to grab Steel Bulwark and lift him over his head. Then Four Arms pummeled the villain with his lower arms.

With the arms sticking out of his back, Steel Bulwark clutched Four Arm's face, clearly trying to poke out any one of his quartet of eyes. In response, Four Arms leaned forward with a headbutt, dazing the villain. Four Arms followed that with a two-pronged uppercut, up the villain's chin and his stomach, sending his whole body up toward the sky. With Steel Bulwark still in the air, Four Arms leapt up and grabbed him again, this time bringing the villain's body downard against Four Arms' knee. That last blow prompted Steel Bulwark to cry out in pain.

Landing back on solid ground, Four Arms let the villain roll off his leg. Left to lie on the floor, Steel Bulwark found his limbs being restrained as he was pinned down and secured by Four Arms.

"Had enough?" the hero taunted.

"I believe he has," said another voice.

So engrossed in the fight, Itsuka hadn't noticed the arrival of another hero.

This one she knew: the Sand Hero, Snatch. Another muscular man, but this one with a long mustache and a ponytail unlike the bald Four Arms and Steel Bulwark. His Quirk was also unlike the others in that it had nothing to do with extra arms. Instead, as his title implied, Snatch was able to turn his upper body into sand and manipulate its shape as he wanted.

When Four Arms turned to him, Snatch demonstrated his Quirk by morphing his arms into two torrents of rippling sand grains. Both Steel Bulwark and Four Arms were swiftly engulfed in sand.

"Wait!" Itsuka called out. Why was Snatch was attacking a fellow hero?

The cashier from the store stumbled outside, nearly running into Itsuka had she not sidestepped him. "They're both crazy!" yelled the cashier. "They're probably villain brothers or something!"

What? Did he not realize that Four Arms was trying to help him? Maybe he wasn't seeing things or thinking correctly, what with his head injury.

Four Arms jumped out of the onslaught of sand, one of Steel Bulwark's back arms hanging onto Four Arms' ankle as he did so. When Four Arms descended down the street away from Snatch, he latched onto the villain and used him as a makeshift landing pad. Stepping off Steel Bulwark, Four Arms held up all four of his namesakes in a defensive pose.

"Villain or vigilante," Snatch said as the rest of his upper form began to devolve and twist into more sand, "both of you must be questioned. I think especially you, vigilante, since the emblem you wear marks you as one of those vigilantes from the States."

Wait, Four Arms was a vigilante? Not a pro?

Four Arms grinned. "I see my reputation precedes me."

Then Itsuka noticed something strange.

While his other three arms flung wildly at Snatch's storm of sand, the remaining arm reached behind himself to block a punch from Steel Bulwark. When the villain's other limbs delivered more punches, Four Arms' lone hand suddenly expanded in size. The sudden growth deflected the villain's punches and knocked him off-balance. Four Arms used his newly enlarged fist to grab the villain by his entire body and toss him directly into the sand.

Steel Bulwark was large enough that his form impacted against both Snatch's sandy upper body and his solid lower body. With Snatch preoccupied in trying to contain the struggling villain, Four Arms turned around and leapt into the air. He managed to jump over and beyond one of the nearby buildings in a single bound.

The strange part that stuck out to Itsuka: the way that vigilante had enlarged his hand into a big fist was just like how Itsuka's grew her own fists with her Quirk.

Before long, Snatch managed to completely subdue the villain. Police officers arrived on the scene. They questioned the cashier and Itsuka. She mentioned Monoma, but the officer she spoke to didn't seem to care about questioning him. She had a feeling that the police were focused on sending the villain to jail as soon as possible rather than gathering more testimonies, but she didn't ponder on that much. There was something else more pressing on her mind.

It was like Four Arms had copied her Quirk, wasn't it?

Of course, it could just be a similar Quirk attached to Four Arms' mutated body. That was a perfectly reasonable explanation.

But Monoma was missing throughout the entire fight. Sure, he could've simply gone home after finding that vigilante and telling him about the villain, but something just didn't add up. Would he really be that flippant of a person to leave Itsuka and the clerk alone after trying to find help?

After overhearing the police mention that they wouldn't pursue Four Arms since Snatch had received word of another crisis to deal with and the officers had to escort the villain to the station by themselves, Itsuka took off in the direction where the vigilante had leapt toward. He could be countless miles away by now, but questions burned in her brain, and she just had to find the answers, so she darted through the streets, trying to find any sign of him.

It was Monoma's signature laughter that gave him away. Itsuka heard the telltale sounds echoing from down an alleyway. Itsuka slowed her pace and subtly looked around the corner.

Monoma was leaning against a building, raising his left arm above him. His eyes were drawn to his wrist as he twisted his hand around and outstretched his fingers.

"It was a good opportunity," he muttered, smiling to himself. No, wait, he was talking on his phone. "I wanted to check if I could still use transformation-type Quirks, and if not, then Four Arms against that villain was a perfect mirror match anyway. If you saw him, you'd think the same."

Was Monoma all but confirming what she had been thinking the second one of Four Arms' hands had turned into a giant fist?

"There were other benefits to engaging with that villain," Monoma continued. "Most well-intentioned vigilantes become hunted and vilified if they cause too much collateral damage. Fighting someone like him was good practice in minimizing collateral considering the last bout I was in, and I managed to escape from a pro hero while simultaneously ensuring the villain would be apprehended. And at the end of the day, an innocent person was spared of any further pain inflicted by that villain. Establishing my new reputation in Japan is off to a great start. I'd call today's events a complete success!"

A pause. Some of the smugness was gone when Monoma spoke again. "I'm only using the lessons you and the others imparted on me. I'm being careful…" He lowered his arm, burying his hand in a pocket. He wasn't smiling anymore. "The spell is working. She didn't notice the Omnitrix or anything strange on my arm."

The what? And the what?

"Yes, I'm still aiming for UA. That won't mean before I'm actually there that I'll just be some idle witness when I have the power to help and when no other hero is near enough."

Another pause, this one lasting longer than the last.

"... I know. And thank you. For everything. Please give the Tennysons my regards." One more brief stint of silence. "Yes. Goodbye, auntie."

With that, Monoma pocketed his phone. Sighing, lifted himself from the wall and stepped deeper into the alley.

Taking a deep breath, Itsuka stepped toward him. "Monoma," she said, announcing her presence.

Mononma froze.

Then he turned around, smug grin and all, whipping some loose strands of hair out of the way of his face. Putting up the usual act, pretending that Itsuka hadn't overheard some of his conversation.

She had no idea how he did it, but one way or another, she was going to find out. As Monoma started another spiel, Itsuka spoke before he could finish it.

"You were that vigilante, weren't you?"

He must've had one heck of a summer vacation.

NOW

"When everyone else is ready to give up, we at UA. take another step forward and go beyond!"

As Itsuka reaffirmed UA's resolve, Tetsutetsu dove directly for the poison gas villain and punched him straight across the face. The kid's metal mask was broken and thrown entirely off of his head in separate pieces. He fell to his back, the poison gas all around them quickly dissipating into nothing.

Tetsutetsu took in a deep breath and gasped for more. Wobbly on his feet, he dropped down beside the villain. "You're gonna pay for ruining our camp," he got out, still trying to steady his breathing, "and for shooting me… stupid kid..."

Despite the grievous circumstances they were in, with the villain attack still going on in the forest all around them, Itsuka grinned in amusement at Tetsutetsu's comments. She began to remove the gas mask from her face.

But then the villain's body started shaking wildly, as if having a seizure. Itsuka resecured her mask as a burst of more purple gas exploded from his body.

Her eye caught the vague shape of a syringe at the villain's side before that was also shrouded in the gas. It must be the drug Trigger, a last-ditch effort by the villain to take out Itsuka and Tetsutetsu by setting his Quirk out of control.

Moving fast, Itsuka activated her own Quirk again and smashed one giant hand down on where the villain's body was. Doing so caused a shockwave that sent the gas flying further in all directions, including at her, but Itsuka held up her other enlarged hand to help deflect the poisonous material from hitting her completely. She was worried that the sudden influx of gas probably augmented by Trigger would break through her mask's filter. Thankfully, this second wave of gas soon petered out, too.

Keeping one hand giant, Itsuka looked over the villain and Tetsutetsu. Tetsutetsu was completely unconscious but breathing normally. The villain with the giant bruise on his right cheek was groaning in pain, too weak to struggle against Itsuka's grip.

"Wore off already?" Itsuka heard him mutter. She supposed his supply of Trigger was one of the cheaper doses. "Should've known their stuff would've been worse off…"

Itsuka tightened her hold, inciting a short squeal from the kid. As long as he was awake and restrained, she might as well try to pry some information from him. "How many other villains are there?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

Itsuka squeezed harder. Another shriek.

"Answer me!"

"You heroes think you're so clever, all – ahh!"

"And zip it with the self-righteous monologue. How many villains are part of this attack?"

The kid twisted his head so that his faint brown eyes met Itsuka's. "I'll give you a hint. How many aliens can the guy with the Omnitrix turn into?"

Kendo stopped applying more pressure to her grip. She blinked, replaying what she just heard in her head. "What did you say?"

"The League doesn't know everything," the kid went on, "but there are other villains that do know about you and the other vigilante."

That was impossible. No one in Japan aside from Monoma's family knew anything about their vigilantism. She and Monoma haven't even been doing anything vigilante-related ever since their first semester at UA started. After Itsuka first found out Monoma's secret, they had worked hard to thoroughly cover their tracks.

"They know who you are, wannabe Lucky Girl."

Itsuka's heart skipped a beat.

"They know about the blond and the Omnitrix. You know, I still can't believe someone like him is wasting his time like this. He's a student at UA with such a pathetic Quirk, but he'd have won the Sports Festival full-stop if he just used that special watch. He wouldn't even need to go to a stupid school if all he wants is to be a hero. He's already a vigilante, just like you, yet he still goes to UA, puts down his own classmates while trying to get all the fame and reputation for hims-"

Itsuka closed her fist, completely.

She soon realized that if had closed her fist completely, then the villain's body would also be completely crushed. But she hadn't applied that amount of pressure. She had only wanted to cut off his breathing and knock him out.

Itsuka opened her hand. Instead of the villain's body, a mud-like sludge stained her hand and the ground. Was that some sort of teleportation waste product? A transformation? Maybe not a transformation, since the sludge wasn't doing anything. Some sort of clone of the villain, like UA's math teacher Ectoplasm?

She can figure it out later. For now, she grabbed Tetsutetsu and started running back to the main encampment. Although this villain was defeated, there were still more out there, so she couldn't just leave Tetsutetsu alone and out in the open.

And then Itsuka would probably have to tell the pro heroes that the villains weren't just targeting Katsuki Bakugo.

They were targeting Neito Monoma, her best friend, Protector of Earth and the wielder of the Omnitrix.